


A mess of love and magic

by jaeyongficfest, oiiwaforlife



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Fluff, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2021-01-08 00:41:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21226931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaeyongficfest/pseuds/jaeyongficfest, https://archiveofourown.org/users/oiiwaforlife/pseuds/oiiwaforlife
Summary: Due to a love potion experiment and Yuta's inherent clumsiness, Lee Taeyong now has an assortment of four odd suitors from different houses. When he starts to fall for one of them, he wonders if that person is really in love with him or if it's just the potion talking.





	A mess of love and magic

**Author's Note:**

> Dear Prompter I hope I did your prompt justice. I never wrote anything NCT related before so I'm a bit nervous to share this with everyone, I hope you and anyone reading will enjoy it.  
I'd like to thank my beta reader M and my little sister, if it weren't for them I would've never been able to finish writing this fic!

This was a mess.

This was a disaster.

Honestly whatever you want to call it, it still made Taeyong want to rip his hair off. Merlin knows, Taeyong was already stressed enough but this had to happen to him out of all people.

He looked nervously at the people gathered in the hospital wing and locked eyes with Yuta, who had the decency to actually look guilty. Taeyong narrowed his eyes, if he wasn't in the presence of four professors, he wouldn't have hesitated to hex his best friend.

The professors were talking in hushed voices with Madam Yoona and judging by the frowns on professor Donghae's forehead, the talk wasn't going well. Taeyong scowled at his stomach when it made a light noise, he completely forgot that he missed dinner after he was rushed to the hospital wing by a very confused Taeil. He wished Taeil was allowed to stay, he needed someone to hold his hand and reassure him that he wasn't in trouble. He usually wouldn't hesitate before letting Yuta do just that but at the moment he was annoyed at his best friend so he stood in his spot and waited in silence.

He tried his hardest to ignore the four pairs of eyes that kept burning holes into the back of his head. He didn't want to acknowledge it, maybe if he ignored it, this whole thing would cease to exist. He closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair slightly tugging at the strands in frustration and slight fear. He knew that he was innocent but from the short talk he had with Madam Yoona earlier, she insinuated that he was in some sort of trouble and he wasn't ready to taint his perfect school record.

Taeyong pretended not to hear the sharp breath intake to his right, he wasn't going to admit that this situation was real. This was a nightmare and soon he would wake up.

"What's taking them so long?"

Taeyong looked out of pure instinct and he regretted doing it instantly. Ten was, thankfully, not looking at him but had his eyes on their professors. He looked as agitated and nervous as everyone else was feeling. What made Taeyong uncomfortable was the pink that dusted Ten's cheeks once he realized Taeyong was looking at him.

"Oh look they're coming our way" Johnny sounded relieved.

Out of the corner of his eye. Taeyong could see a few students staring at them from their beds and he couldn't really blame them for being curious. It wasn't every day that all four house heads were called into the hospital wing to deal with their students' mess.

"From what we gathered, everyone here ate from the same chocolate cauldron box, right?" Professor Tiffany said and four heads nodded.

"The good thing is, there is a cure for the potion, obviously," Professor Taeyeon held up the box Yuta gave her earlier and frowned, "But something went wrong when brewing it. So the antidote will take a little bit longer to brew."

Taeyong barely stopped himself from groaning. He wanted to ask how long it would take, how long he was going to endure this but remained silent. He didn't want to say anything inappropriate and disappoint his house head.

"My guess is that the potion wasn't correctly brewed and due to Mr Lee being present when Mr Nakamoto brewed it, he somehow ended up being the target of effects of the love potion." Taeyong released a breath he wasn't aware he was holding. At least Professor Donghae believed what he told him earlier.

"I can't believe you messed up a fifth-year potion Mr Nakamoto, even with the assistance of Mr lee" Professor Taeyeon shook her head in disappointment, "But then again you never made it successfully in my class so I'm not really that surprised."

Yuta, as he should, looked ashamed and ducked his head in an effort to hide his embarrassment. Usually, Taeyong would feel bad for his best friend but he was the one who got them in this situation.

"I've seen first hand how clumsy Mr Nakamoto is," Professor Yesung, their Transfiguration professor and head of Ravenclaw sighed. He had suffered from the numerous accidents Yuta caused in his class, "I don't find it hard to believe that he forgot to label his potions and got a luck potion and a love potion mixed up"

"I'm still against letting them off without any punishment" Professor Tiffany huffed and pointed at Johnny, "my student has to suffer the consequences, I find it unfair not to punish them whether it was an accident or on purpose."

"We already agreed on taking house points," Professor Taeyeon stood straighter, not wanting her student to be unfairly punished. Even though in Taeyong's opinion, Yuta deserved it. He had promised Taeyong that he got rid of the love potion after he helped him brew it during summer break.

"And Taeyong didn't even do anything wrong" Professor Donghae sighed when Professor Tiffany looked unconvinced.

"I agree. I think having to deal with four people in love with him until Taeyeon finishes brewing the antidote is enough punishment for Mr Lee." Professor Yesung gave Taeyong a small smile and Taeyong was grateful for having his support. He was glad at least two professors believed he was innocent.

"Oh for Merlin's sake, okay fine!" Professor Taeyeon said after Professor Tiffany gave her a look that Taeyong couldn't decipher. "Mr Nakamoto will have detention for two weeks, I'll make sure he learns the importance of labeling his potions."

Professor Yesung looked pleased with the agreement they reached and clapped his hands, effectively getting everyone's attention.

"Once the cure is ready we will notify everyone. Now go back to your common rooms, it's getting late"

Taeyong turned around, ready to swing by the kitchens to grab something to eat when he heard his name.

"Yuta, Taeyong, come with me" Professor Donghae called out and Taeyong groaned internally.

He exchanged a look with Yuta and he saw his dread mirrored in his friend's eyes. They both followed him out of the hospital wing and stopped right in front of the door waiting for the scolding they knew was coming.

"Stop looking like two kicked kittens," Donghae dropped his serious act and smiled. "I won't write to your parents about this. And no Yuta I won't tell your mother that you stole some of her ingredients to practice potions."

"Really? You really won't?" Yuta looked hopeful.

"Just promise to never do it again. Or at least do it without getting caught or causing trouble," Donghae ran a hand through his hair and ruffled the blonde strands.

"You're such a terrible role model," Taeyong pulled a face, "Don't let Hyuck hear that or else he will think you're encouraging him"

"I'm still your professor, you brat" Donghae lightly hit Taeyong's forehead.

"Not anymore, I dropped herbology in my fifth year, remember?" Taeyong clutched his forehead, exaggerating the pain.

"Well I'm still your house head and your older cousin, show me some respect" Donghae rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Yuta who was doing a great job trying to blend with the wall, "Try to stay out of trouble, please. You're lucky Taeyeon likes you"

"I will" Yuta weakly promised and Taeyong felt awful. He knew that Yuta didn't mean to do anything bad.

"Alright then, get going and don't stay out too late!"

Both 6th years nodded and didn't waste a second before leaving. Yuta waited until they were a few corridors away before breaking his silence.

"Taeyong I'm sorry-"

"Let's get something to eat first, okay?" Taeyong grabbed his friend's arm as a reassurance that he was no longer angry, "I'm too hungry to talk."

━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━

After filling his stomach and enduring the judgemental looks Yuta was throwing his way for eating mostly desserts for dinner, Taeyong dragged his best friend with him to the Hufflepuff common room. He smiled at Jeno who waved briefly before going back to the game of chess he was playing. He still wasn't sure why a sweet kid like Jeno was friends with his little brother who, according to Taeyong was the devil reincarnated, but he wasn't going to complain. He was convinced Jeno was a good influence on Donghyuck.

Apart from a few confused first-years, no one questioned Taeyong for bringing a Slytherin to their common room. It was a regular occurrence that everyone just stopped caring about. Yuta was often eating at the Hufflepuff table anyway, everyone was used to his face.

Taeyong quickly scanned the room then headed to his dorm, Yuta trailing quietly behind him. He pushed the door and smiled fondly at the sight greeting him. Taeil was lying on his bed with his head on Sicheng's lap reading a book while Sicheng ran his hand through his hair gently.

" You could at least pretend to be worried about me" Taeyong huffed and threw himself carelessly on his own bed.

"You ungrateful brat, Taeil couldn't even eat anything at dinner" Sicheng pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes at Taeyong, not phased at the sight of Yuta laying on top of Taeyong while the Hufflepuff whined about being crushed, "Of course we were worried about you"

Taeyong smiled reassuringly at Sicheng and tried to push Yuta off him.

"Since it's this dumbass' fault, I'll let him explain" Taeyong gestured to his best friend who was sulking and settled for hugging Taeyong's pillow.

"I told you I didn't do it on purpose" Yuta mumbled.

"I think we can all agree that you never do anything on purpose, Yuta" Taeil closed his book, giving his friends his full attention, "What happened? Kun asked to take you to the hospital wing and didn't really specify anything" 

Taeyong closed his eyes, trying to forget the scene that greeted him when he entered the room earlier. It was one of the strangest experiences in his whole life. Taeyong could tell that something was wrong the moment his eyes met with Kim Doyoung's. Instead of the usual scowl that Doyoung seemed to have whenever Taeyong was in the room, he offered a shy smile and averted his eyes.

"Yuta fed four people chocolate laced with a love potion." Even to Taeyong's ears, the statement sounded like a very bad joke. 

"Yuta did what now?" Sicheng glanced between both of them. disbelief was written all over his face and honestly, Taeyong couldn't even blame him.

"As I said, I didn't feed anyone anything," Yuta threw his pillow at Taeyong, "If that little shit didn't steal chocolate from a box that was clearly on my own bed, we wouldn't be in this mess" 

"You do realize that even if Ten didn't steal them, Doyoung would still have eaten the stupid chocolate you made him?" Taeyong raised his eyebrow, challenging Yuta to try and counter what he said.

"I thought you already knew that Doyoung likes you? why did you have to use a love potion?" Taeil, still comfortably lying on his boyfriend's lap, looked pretty confused. "if Yuta messed up then why was Taeyong even requested to go ?" 

"Because Yuta can't even brew a love potion without messing it up," Taeyong groaned recalling what Madam Yoona told him, "Four people took the potion but instead of falling for him, well, they are in love with me" 

It was very comical, the way Sicheng and Taeil reacted. If he wasn't in despair for his situation, he would've laughed and found it hilarious. Taeil quickly sat up straight, slightly startling Sicheng who had his mouth open and gave Taeyong an incredulous look.

"No way" Sicheng finally managed to say.

"Unfortunately it's true. I wanted to do something romantic and give Doyoung chocolates that had a luck potion in them for Valentine's day but somehow both potions got mixed up and I ended up using the love potion Taeyong helped me brew this summer-"

"You helped him do what?" Taeil interrupted and pointed an accusing finger at Taeyong.

"He barely got the grades he needed for his potion OWLs, what was I supposed to do?" 

"I don't know Taeyong, maybe don't leave it in his possession afterward?" Taeil rolled his eyes when all Taeyong did was glare at him.

"All I did was help my best friend with potions and now I'm-" Taeyong pouted and was about to throw a tantrum when Yuta sighed and put a hand on his mouth muffling his words. His other hand went to Taeyong'S hair patted his head soothingly.

"As I was saying, I mixed up the potions and the chocolates ended up having a love potion inside. Originally I made a few of them for Doyoung but this morning three disappeared and I knew Ten had something to do with it. Merlin, having him as a roommate is so annoying. Anyways I didn't really mind as long as I still had some left. But after lunch, Doyoung started acting weird and kept asking me about Taeyong," Yuta frowned at the memory and Taeyong felt bad for not considering Yuta's feelings about the whole situation, "Usually he would do anything to avoid bringing up Taeyong so I was getting a bit worried. Then kun came and said something was wrong with Johnny and Ten"

"I'm still weirded out by the fact that Ten was nice to me and didn't lose his mind over Johnny looking my way for more than ten seconds" Taeyong pulled a face. 

"So Doyoung, Johnny and Ten are in love with Taeyong? Didn't you say four? Who's the fourth one?" Taeil asked

"Jung Jaehyun" Yuta smirked when he felt Taeyong tense up in his arms.

Taeyong hated how his treacherous body reacted to the name. He ignored the looks Sicheng and Taeil were throwing his way. He could feel his cheeks heat up and cursed himself for being so transparent and easy to read. 

The fact that he kept his calm when Madam Yoona informed him of what happened was astonishing, especially since Jung Jaehyun was standing right there and was in love with Taeyong according to what he just heard. It was embarrassing how fast his heart started beating when the Slytherin caught him staring and flashed him a dimpled grin. Granted, Jaehyun tended to smile at everyone so Taeyong always reminded himself that he wasn't special but with the knowledge that Jaehyun had feelings for him, Taeyong's heart couldn't help but flutter.

_ Fake feelings _, his mind supplied. 

"no no no Taeyong you are not going to do this" Taeil's voice brought Taeyong back to reality. He didn't like the disappointed look Taeil was giving him, it made him feel like a child who was about to get scolded by his mother, not that Taeyong got scolded a lot growing up.

"Do what?" Taeyong wasn't entirely playing dumb. He had an idea of what Taeil was talking about. 

"Jung is under the influence of a love potion Yong. Please don't let it get to your head." Taeil leveled Taeyong with a pointed stare.

"What Taeil means is that we don't want to see you get hurt," Sicheng quickly added.

"I know.." Taeyong sighed and slumped back into Yuta's arms. 

He was aware that whatever Jaehyun felt wasn't his own feelings. Taeyong knew it, yet his cheeks still heated up at the thought of Jaehyun returning his feelings. 

"I know none of it will be real, I won't get hurt, I swear" He tried to reassure his friends even though his words didn't sound convincing even to him. 

Taeil clearly wasn't buying whatever Taeyong was saying but decided to let it go for now and to that Taeyong was very grateful. He's had a very long day and wasn't in the mood for the conversation he knew was coming. 

"It's getting late" Sicheng yawned and stretched, "You two should get ready for bed, we'll continue this tomorrow" 

Taeyong gave Sicheng and Taeil a grateful smile before turning to Yuta who had his head rested on Taeyong's shoulder with his eyes closed. 

"Come on sleepyhead, let's get changed" He gently nudged Yuta and got a whine in return. 

It wasn't strange for Yuta to spend his nights in the Hufflepuff dorms. Back in their first year, after getting sorted into different houses, the best friends were devastated. They've known each other since they were in diapers and were never apart for more than two days. 

Taeyong kept bringing Yuta with him to his common room. Taeil and Sicheng who were his roommates since then didn't mind and quickly befriended Yuta. At first, Taeyong got scolded and the prefects kept taking Yuta back his to common room but after seeing how close the pair was, everyone gave up on separating them. Yuta started keeping a few of his things at Taeyong's dorm with how frequently he stayed there. 

As he slipped under his covers, Taeyong thought about what would happen in the next few days. He had a potion class first thing in the morning the next day, which usually excited Taeyong who loved potions. With his current situation, however, he dreaded the class so much. It was the only class he shared with all four boys and he wasn't really looking forward to it. He was sure that by now everyone in the castle was aware of what happened and he contemplated skipping breakfast. He didn't want to sit in the grand hall with everyone around him gossiping about him but he knew that Taeil would never let him skip a meal. 

Taeyong sighed in relief when Yuta shifted closer and snaked his arm around Taeyong's stomach. 

"This is exactly why Doyoung wants to murder me" Taeyong whispered. He could feel Yuta's almost silent chuckle on the back of his neck. 

"Go to sleep Yongie, you need the rest" Yuta sleepily mumbled.

Taeyong melted in the comforting touch. He closed his eyes and tried to shut his mind off to get some much-needed sleep. 

━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━

After pleading for ten minutes, Taeyong was able to convince Taeil to let him skip breakfast. Yuta stayed with him out of solidarity and to make sure Taeyong got something to eat before going to class. Taeyong expected the looks and whispers from the students they encountered on their way to the dungeons, he didn't expect to be pulled to the side by an unknown force.

" Lee Donghyuck are you out of your mind?" Taeyong glared at his little brother who only smiled in return. 

"Is it true?" Donghyuck looked way too excited for how early in the morning it was. 

"Is what true?" Taeyong shook his head disapprovingly at how messily the younger wore his uniform and unconsciously reached out to straighten it for him.

"Did you really give a love potion to Ten hyung and Jaehyun hyung?" 

Taeyong choked on pure air and was ready to die right then and there. He knew rumors traveled so fast in the castle but he hoped that he would at least have a peaceful morning, that was the whole point of him not going to the great hall in the first place. Besides, wasn't Donghyuck in his fourth year? How did he even manage to hear about it so quickly? 

"How did you hear about it?" Taeyong narrowed his eyes at him. 

"Merlin's beard! You really did it huh? I knew you had it in you hyung" Donghyuck grinned proudly.

"Of course I didn't do that, Hyuckie. It was an accident and Yuta was the cause, not me." Taeyong tsked. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Yuta chatting to his brother's friends who kept glancing their way curiously " You didn't answer me, how did you find out? Did it spread this fast?" 

"No don't worry, I don't think many people know. Jaemin and I overheard Jaehyun hyung and Ten hyung talking in the common room," Donghyuck's eyes shone in excitement and Taeyong had a feeling he wouldn't like what he was about to hear, "they were talking about how they won't hold it against each other if they decided to act on their feelings towards you. That's when we decided to do some digging and after asking around a little we knew what happened"

"You wouldn’t be failing your classes if you put this much effort into studying" Taeyong narrowed his eyes at his brother. He tried to channel his feelings into being annoyed at Donghyuck instead of focusing on the fact that Jaehyun was talking to Ten about him, about making a move. 

"I'm not failing my classes!" Donghyuck rolled his eyes, "You just consider anything under Outstanding a failing grade" 

"You still shouldn't be snooping around and eavesdropping on others' conversations" 

"I heard your name, what was I supposed to do?" Donghyuck pouted and Taeyong resisted the urge to pinch his cheeks. He knew that the younger hated being babied in front of his friends. He always complained about his image being ruined. Taeyong knew his brother was just trying to impress Mark, the rest of the group practically spent every summer at Taeyong's house, they knew how much Donghyuck loved being pampered. 

"Thanks for looking out for me Hyuckie" Taeyong smiled and patted his brother's head. "Now get going or else you're going to be late for breakfast" 

"You still didn't tell me what exactly happened but fine, I'll let you off for now" Donghyuck freed himself from his older brother's hold and ran to join his friends. 

Taeyong watched the four fourth-year students disappear and smiled fondly. Unlike Taeyong who wasn't sorted in the same house as his childhood friend, Jaemin and Donghyuck both got sorted in Slytherin in their first year and somehow Renjun, Sicheng's cousin, and Jeno, Doyoung's little brother ended up joining the two of them and formed an odd group of friends.

"They're too cheerful for someone up so early" Yuta put his hands around Taeyong's shoulder and started guiding both of them in the direction of the potions classroom. 

"Maybe we're just getting old" Taeyong leaned into the touch and prepared himself mentally for the next two hours.

They were a bit too early and ended up hanging out in front of the classroom, waiting for Sicheng and Taeil to join them. Yuta was talking about anything to fill in the silence but Taeyong wasn't able to focus and hear a word his best friend was saying.

"I'm sorry for being mean yesterday and not thinking about how you were feeling " Taeyong blurted out, cutting Yuta mid-sentence.

Yuta was surprised, his eyes widened slightly before softening. Taeyong jutted his lower lip out, he's been meaning to apologize since yesterday night after his anger died down and he realized that Yuta was mostly more upset about the whole ordeal than anyone else involved. Not only was his Valentine's day ruined but his plans to ask Doyoung out officially were also ruined and now he had to deal with his crush being in love with Taeyong, his best friend. 

"You had every right to be mad Taeyong, I was careless and should've been more careful. Stop giving me that look, you're forgiven, I wasn't even upset in the first place." Yuta smiled reassuringly at Taeyong who didn't look too convinced.

"It's unfair how nice you are" Taeyong leaned his head on Yuta's shoulder, "What have I ever done to deserve you?"

"You should thank your mother for being friends with mine" Yuta laughed and shook his head playfully. 

Yuta looked around them once more people started arriving. Their friends were still nowhere to be found. Out of habit, his eyes immediately found Doyoung's. The Ravenclaw was intensely glaring at him and wasn't even trying to hide the disdain clearly written all over his face. Yuta shuddered, not used to being on the other end of Doyoung's glare. 

"You weren't lying when you said Doyoung could be scary" He whispered to his friend who hummed in acknowledgment and didn't lift his head from his shoulder. 

"How come he's still glaring at me, isn't he supposed to love me now?" 

"I think our roles got reversed, Yongie." Yuta sighed, "He's jealous of me" 

"Now you can know what I have to deal with on a daily basis," Taeyong rolled his eyes at Doyoung's antics. The boy was always jealous of anything Taeyong did, even though Taeyong explained multiple times that no, he didn't want to date Yuta nor did he have any romantic feelings for him. And yet Doyoung was always jealous of the pair as if he didn't own Yuta's heart already.

"This will be harder than I thought" Yuta sniffled miserably. 

"It will be over soon, don't think about it, alright?" Taeyong rubbed his arm soothingly, "Just keep in mind that whatever he says or does is just the potion speaking" 

"Promise me that you will do the same" Yuta sounded serious all of a sudden and Taeyong knew what his friend was talking about and merely nodded.

He wasn't sure if he could keep the promise, but he was going to try. 

"We should probably get going, I think the two love birds will be late today." Yuta slightly nudged Taeyong.

"I leave them alone for one day and they can't behave, I can't say I'm surprised" Taeyong lifted himself off the wall and stretched his arms lazily over his head. 

Once they got into the potions classroom, they went their separate ways. Taeyong greeted his partner Seulgi with a polite smile. Yuta sent him a distressed look from across the classroom and mouthed _ help _ to which Taeyong shrugged helplessly. He kind of forgot that Yuta's partner was none other than Kim Doyoung. 

As he was taking his textbook out of his bag, Taeyong felt the person in the seat in front of him turn around. He looked up and almost dropped the book in surprise. 

"Good morning," Jaehyun gave him a breathtaking smile.

Taeyong dumbly stared for a few seconds until Seulgi subtly nudged him under the table and he remembered to breathe again. 

_ Get a grip Lee Taeyong, this is just the potion acting, _he chanted repeatedly in his head.

"Good morning...?" Taeyong tried his best to smile but he was sure that he looked awkward. 

He quickly glanced at the front of the classroom, there was no sight of to professor Taeyeon and Sicheng, who was Jaehyun's partner was nowhere to be seen. 

"Did you sleep well?" Jaehyun's stare was intense. It was impressive that Taeyong was still breathing and didn't melt into a puddle. 

"Yeah I did, what about you?" Taeyong patted himself on the shoulder for managing to speak without stuttering.

"Me too.." Jaehyun looked sheepish and fiddled with his tie. Taeyong wanted to scream because he looked absolutely adorable. "I didn't see you at breakfast today."

"ah, I overslept" Taeyong lied. He couldn't possibly tell Jaeyun why he really avoided the great hall. 

"I'm glad you're fine" Jaehyun smiled, the tip of his ears going red. If he wasn't feeling this nervous Taeyong would've cooed at how endearing the sight was. 

The Slytherin looked like he had more to say but was interrupted by Sicheng noisily putting his bag on their table. Jaehyun quickly turned back on his seat as if he didn't almost give Taeyong a heart attack by acknowledging his existence. He narrowed his eyes at Sicheng who raised his eyebrows in response as if daring Taeyong to comment on his appearance. Anyone looking at him could guess what he was doing, with his tousled hair and crumpled robes. When Taeyong just stared flatly at him, Sicheng smiled triumphantly and faced the front right on time to see professor Taeyeon coming in. 

Taeyong blinked a few times and tried to focus on what his professor was saying. He has been sitting behind Jaehyun for almost a month now and the Slytherin never talked to him before. It wasn't that Jaehyun was rude and purposely ignored Taeyong, they just had no reason to talk. They were in two different houses and had different friend circles. Yuta was in the Quidditch team with Jaehyun but they weren't really close due to Yuta spending most of his time glued to Taeyong. 

Taeyong usually sat at the front of the class while Jaehyun, Johnny, and Ten always preferred the back. They didn't even share many classes together before their fifth year and if Taeyong was honest, he tried to avoid Johnny and his friends after the embarrassing fight he had with Ten three years ago. In Taeyong's opinion, It was a stretch to even call it a fight.

Back then Taeyong and Johnny were herbology partners and Taeyong had a tiny crush on Johnny. For a long time, Taeyong was convinced that to some extent his feelings were reciprocated until Ten, Johnny's best friend and someone Taeyong never really interacted with, ambushed him on the way to the great hall. Ten basically told him to back off and that Johnny was his, which resulted in an argument and Ten declaring war on Taeyong. It didn't last for a long time though since Johnny apologized on his best friend's behalf and explained the situation to Taeyong. Long story short, thanks to Taeyong, the pair realized that they were in love and they started dating. Not only did Taeyong get indirectly rejected by his crush but he had to deal with Ten's jealousy. To this day, the Slytherin was convinced Taeyong was planning to steal his boyfriend. 

Taeyong shuddered at the memory and focused on stirring his potion, sighing in relief when it turned the correct color. At least his daydreaming wouldn't cost him his and Seulgi's grades. Now that his mind wasn't preoccupied with anything, he became more aware of the stares he was getting. Taeyong swallowed thickly and tried his best to ignore them for the rest of the class.

Once professor Taeyeon dismissed them, Taeyong quickly shoved his book in his bag, ready to run to his next class to avoid interacting with anyone. Yuta, Taeil, and Sicheng didn't take Arithmancy with him so he had to walk alone. He wanted to leave before everyone else to avoid getting asked about the rumors. He was about to stand up when Jaehyun turned in his seat to look at him. 

"You have Arithmancy next, right?" Jaehyun smiled shyly when Taeyong hesitantly nodded, "We have that class together, do you want to walk there with me?" 

Judging by the burning sensation in his cheeks, Taeyong was positive that he was blushing. He just hoped that Jaehyun wouldn't notice or assume that Taeyong was shy. 

"Sure.." Taeyong swallowed thickly when Jaehyun's smile turned into a full-blown grin. 

Taeyong briefly glanced at Sicheng and regretted it. His friend was frowning at him, clearly displeased with the exchange and Taeyong knew why. He knew he shouldn't have accepted but what was he supposed to do? Turn down Jung Jaehyun? Taeyong would never be able to do that. 

They were going on a harmless walk to their next class. Sicheng had nothing to worry about. Taeyong knew what he was doing and he wasn't going to let himself get hurt. At least he hoped so.

Taeyong followed Jaehyun outside of the classroom, deliberately avoiding Yuta and Taeil's questioning looks. He tried to focus all of his attention on the boy in front of him. His heart fluttered when he noticed Jaehyun making an effort to slow down and match his pace. 

"Did you manage to finish last week's assignment?" 

They have been walking in complete silence for a few minutes and Taeyong was so lost in his thoughts trying to come up with a topic of conversation that it took him around three seconds to realize Jaehyun was talking to him.

"I did finish it," Taeyong recalled the hours he spent in the library trying to understand the Arithmancy work professor Siwon gave them last week. "It was hard but I somehow did it" 

Jaehyun didn't look surprised by Taeyong's answer, as if he already expected it. Taeyong didn't like to boast about his academic achievements but he was serious when it came to his school grades and his hard work always paid off. He didn't expect Jaehyun to know about it though, which was ridiculous thinking about it, after all, Taeyong was in top three of every class they shared, he must've guessed Taeyong did well at school. That is if he even knew who Taeyong was in the first place. 

"I'm so jealous," Jaehyun jutted his bottom lip in a pout and Taeyong tried his best not to stare at the action, "I couldn't do most of it"

"I can help you with the next assignment" Taeyong blurted out before his brain could process the words. "If you want to.." He quietly added. 

"That would save my life, you have no idea!" Jaehyun smiled widely at him, making Taeyong's breath hitch. He really had the most beautiful smile in the world. " Thank you so much, Taeyong"

"Please, don't mention it" Taeyong's cheeks heated up. Jaehyun saying his name was too much for his little heart. 

Thankfully for him, they arrived at that moment. Taeyong stood awkwardly and looked expectantly at Jaehyun. He didn't know what to do and what to say. Did he have to thank Jaehyun for walking with him? 

"Can I sit with you?" 

Taeyong was surprised. This class didn't have assigned seats but it was common knowledge that most Slytherins sat in the back. He didn't want to stereotype them but they really did prefer to sit in the few last rows. He didn't really have anyone who sat beside him in this class, the seat beside him was always filled with someone different so he had no reason to decline. 

It would've been very rude of him to say no, so Taeyong obviously nodded shyly. He ignored the voice in the back of his head that sounded suspiciously like Taeil's telling him not to forget about the love potion. 

So what if they sat together in class? It didn't mean anything. In a few days, Jaehyun would drink the potion professor Taeyeon prepared and he would go back to ignoring Taeyong's existence. Maybe he would hate Taeyong and Yuta for the horrible experience they made him go through and everything would go back to the way it was before. Taeyong was not going to let himself get hurt, but enjoying Jaehyun's company while he could was harmless and he was going to let himself indulge in that. 

Sitting beside Jaehyun in class was a very interesting experience. Taeyong was aware the Slytherin did pay attention in class to some extent since he wasn't failing anything but he also knew that Jaehyun was usually either sleeping or talking while their professors talked their ears off. He didn't expect Jaehyun to actually focus and write down notes the whole time. Taeyong, on the other hand, struggled to ignore the boy's presence beside him. Their elbows would sometimes brush and Taeyong would easily lose his focus. 

He was miraculously able to write down a few things and promised himself to go over what he missed before next week. As they were leaving, Jaehyun looked at him hopefully. Taeyong knew the question that the other wanted to ask and didn't have the heart to refuse.

"Do you want to go to the great hall together? We're going in the same direction anyway," Jaehyun fiddled with the strap of his bag as if Taeyong could ever say no to him.

"Yeah sure," Taeyong smiled and decided that the amount of scolding he was going to get from his friends was worth the smile Jaehyun gave him in return. 

━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━

"We need to talk" 

Taeyong looked between the hand clutching his wrist and Ten's serious face. He kind of expected Ten to approach him at some point. The Slytherin's personality was bold and forward so Taeyong figured he was the kind to confess without hesitation. However, he didn't expect it to happen when he was on his way to the library to meet Jaehyun. Yuta thought he was funny and called their meetings Study dates and Taeyong strongly disagreed. They were just studying together so that Taeyong could help Jaehyun with his Arithmancy assignments. 

"Yeah, sure" Taeyong was aware that Ten wasn't even asking a question but still answered anyway. 

The hallway was relatively empty but Ten still dragged Taeyong to a corner where no one could eavesdrop on them. Taeyong prepared himself to kindly reject Ten, he needed to be nice and quick since Jaehyun was still waiting for him at the library probably wondering why Taeyong was late.

"I love you" Ten looked at Taeyong, his cheeks were tainted red but he still looked Taeyong in the eye. "And I love Johnny. This has been troubling me for a few days and I finally came to a solution" 

_ Johnny? Why was he bringing up Johnny? _

"After he noticed that I was acting strange, we talked. Johnny also has feelings for you," Ten bit his lip nervously "So we both love each other and we both love you"

Never in his lifetime had Taeyong imagined himself in a situation like this. He didn't think that even under the effects of a love potion Johnny and Ten would still love each other that deeply. Taeyong was speechless. He didn't know how to respond, all he wanted to do was walk past the Slytherin and go to the library to study. 

"What are you trying to say?" Taeyong decided to just play dumb. 

"I guess what I'm saying is, would you be interested in dating both of us?" Ten ran a hand through his hair seemingly looking for the right words to use. Taeyong had to give him props for having the courage to tell him about his feelings so easily.

Even though he knew what Ten was suggesting, Taeyong couldn't help gaping at him. The cure for the love potion should be ready any day, so all he had to do was stall for time. 

"Can I take some time to think about this?" He finally managed to say. 

"Yeah sure, I know this is a lot to take in, however, don't let us wait for too long" Ten quickly answered, slightly relieved for not being rejected. 

"Thank you" Taeyong smiled awkwardly "I'll see you around then?" 

Ten nodded and Taeyong took it as his queue to leave. He tried to walk normally until he was out of the Slytherin's field of vision and started sprinting to the library. He stopped for a few seconds to catch his breath and fix his appearance before pushing the door open and looking for Jaehyun. Over the past couple of days, he started studying with Jaehyun after his quidditch practice. Taeyong knew their meeting would end soon but he tried to make the most of it while he still could. 

He took a deep breath when he spotted Jaehyun at their usual spot. 

"I'm sorry for being late"

Jaehyun looked up, whatever he reading was immediately forgotten. Taeyong felt awful for being late. He especially hated making people wait for him.

"It's fine," Jaehyun frowned when Taeyong sat down across from him and he got a good glimpse at his face. Taeyong was out of breath and looked like he ran all the way to the library. " Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just had the weirdest encounter of my life" Taeyong wasn't planning to tell Jaehyun of all people what happened to him but he really needed to tell someone.

Jaehyun looked expectantly at Taeyong and gave him a reassuring smile.

"I think Ten just asked me to be in a polyamorous relationship with him and Johnny?"

Taeyong didn't expect Jaehyun to start choking out of nowhere. He made sure the Slytherin was fine before sending people sitting on the table near them apologetic looks.

"I'm sorry, I think I misheard you"

"No you heard me right," Taeyong tried to recall his talk with Ten. If he wasn't so confused he would've been embarrassed to discuss this with his crush. "It was very weird since I wasn't expecting it, but yeah that happened" 

"Ten is so unpredictable sometimes, We've been friends for years and he still manages to surprise me" Jaehyun looked at him in disbelief and Taeyong couldn't help but shrug. 

"Being unpredictable isn't really a bad thing" He mumbled as he took out his books and quills from his bag, "So yeah that's why I was late, did you start without me?" 

Jaehyun nodded sheepishly and mentioned at what he had written so far. Taeyong stretched his neck and prepared himself to spend the next few hours studying. Or at least trying to focus on studying since Jaehyun was a constant distraction by just sitting there and breathing. 

━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━

Taeyong was very nervous. 

Even though his best friend was in the Quidditch team, he never went to watch him practice. He made sure to show up to games and show his support but he never watched their practice before so he could understand the curious looks he kept getting from the students scattered around him. 

He was a bit surprised when Jaehyun asked him to watch him practice after the study session the night before. The boy looked hopeful and was looking at Taeyong so expectantly that he didn't have the heart to say no. He didn't have any interest in the sport but he would gladly go and watch a two hours-long practice in the cold just to see Jaehyun smile. It was a bit pathetic how easily he said yes to Jaehyun, it seemed like he wasn't able to refuse anything the Slytherin asked.

Taeyong was scared he would stick out by wearing his Hufflepuff scarf but unlike what he imagined, there were students from different houses present to watch the practice. He could tell most of them were Jaehyun's fans. It was no secret that Jaehyun was very popular at Hogwarts, even Taeyong was aware of that fact and he didn't keep up with the gossip. Wherever Jaehyun went, people stared. Even at the library, Taeyong was aware of the stares Jaehyun kept getting, he used to be one of them after all. All he could do for a long time was staring and wishing he was able to talk to Jaehyun, and here he was, watching the boy's Quidditch practice after being personally invited by him. Taeyong smiled at the thought, he felt special for having something differentiating him from all the fans watching Jaehyun.

He looked at the field, searching for Jaehyun and met Yuta's gaze instead. His friend was frowning and looked confused. Taeyong felt guilty for not telling Yuta about his plans to show up to practice but he knew Yuta would have been against it so he opted to leave it a secret. He quickly averted his eyes and found Jaehyun talking to one of his teammates. 

Taeyong has seen Jaehyun wearing his Quidditch uniform during matches before but every time the sight never failed to take his breath away. He knew he was staring but he couldn't do anything about it, he couldn't take his eyes off the boy. As if sensing his stare, Jaehyun looked his way and smiled widely. Taeyong felt self-conscious and hesitantly waved. He could feel a few eyes on him after Jaehyun happily waved his way before going back to listening to what Sooyoung was telling him. 

As soon as practice started, Taeyong could only see Jaehyun. His eyes involuntarily followed the Slytherin the whole time. He was mesmerized by the way Jaehyun moved so elegantly in the air, making it seem like the easiest task in the world. He tried to keep a low profile and not attract any useless attention from people around him, he didn't need the whole castle to know about his crush on Jung Jaehyun, for all they knew he was there to watch his best friend but the way he would blush whenever Jaehyun winked his way after every time he scored was totally giving it away. 

As soon as the team's captain announced the end of the practice, Taeyong hurriedly left the stands. He didn't want to run into Yuta and have the whole interrogation out in the open on the Quidditch pitch. He was halfway through when someone called his name. 

"Taeyong wait!" Jaehyun jogged up to him. He was obviously still in his uniform, his hair was tousled from the wind and sweat and Taeyong swallowed thickly. He really hoped he wasn't blushing just from this sight alone, that would be embarrassing. 

"hey, good game" Taeyong wanted the ground to swallow him whole, why did he have to sound that awkward.

"thanks" Jaehyun grinned, the tips of his ears were pink. "Thank you for coming today, it means a lot to me" 

"I-" Taeyong's heart was beating so fast. he was scared it would burst, "No problem? I really enjoyed watching" 

"I would hug you to properly thank you but," Jaehyun ran a hand through his hair and wrinkled his nose in disgust, "I'm too sweaty for that"

_ I wouldn't mind _, Taeyong's mind screamed.

He opened his mouth and was about to reply when Jaehyun leaned down and pressed a soft kiss on his cheek. Taeyong's mind short-circuited. He was pretty sure his cheeks were as red as Jaehyun's ears. 

"Y-You'll get sick if you don't get changed" Taeyong stammered.

"Yeah I'll go do that," Jaehyun shuffled his feet awkwardly before looking at Taeyong and offering a small bashful smile, "I'll see you tomorrow then" 

Taeyong nodded and quickly turned around. He spent the rest of the way to the castle in a daze. He dreamed so much about the moment when Jaehyun would acknowledge his existence and now that it was happening, Taeyong felt like he could die of happiness.

━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━

"I knew this was going to happen" Yuta scowled at Taeyong and pulled his arm harder.

"Not the time Yuta" Taeil scolded and turned to Taeyong who was laying on his bed not moving, "Come on Taeyong, you have to at least go to dinner, you can't avoid it forever" 

Taeyong sighed. He knew that he couldn't lay in his bed and ignore the outside world. As much as he kept reminding himself that whatever Jaehyun felt for him was temporary, he ended up forgetting. He lost track of time and was shocked when Yuta came into his room yesterday after dinner and announced that professor Taeyeon called Doyoung, Johnny, Ten, and Jaehyun into her office earlier and gave them the antidote. Yuta was there because of his detention and came to tell Taeyong as soon as he was released. 

Taeyong should've listened to his friends when they told him to be careful. He was now too attached to Jaehyun, too used to seeing Jaehyun on a daily basis to go back to being strangers. Jaehyun could end up hating Taeyong for taking advantage of his fake feelings. He was scared of going to class and meeting Jaehyun's eyes only to see hatred in them or worse, indifference. He would rather stay in bed and skip classes, maybe he should transfer to another school, that thought was very tempting. 

"We let you skip classes and lied about you being sick but you need food, let's go" Taeil pleaded, his face full of worry and Taeyong felt guilty.

"I'm sorry, just let me stay here tonight and I promise I will stop mopping by tomorrow." Taeyong smiles and hoped it was enough to convince Taeil and Yuta that he was somewhat fine.

"Just for tonight" Taeil pursed his lips and ignored Yuta's complaints, "I'll bring you something to eat but I still don't approve of this behavior" 

"Thank you Taeil" 

"I can't believe you gave in that easily" Yuta dropped Taeyong's arm and frowned at Taeil. 

"Don't be too harsh on him, let him rest for tonight. I'm not leaving this room without him tomorrow" Taeil grabbed Yuta's wrist and easily dragged him outside of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Taeyong knew that he was being overdramatic, he and Jaehyun have only been talking for roughly two weeks and he was acting like the world was ending because the Slytherin wasn't under the influence of a love potion anymore. But in just two weeks, Jung Jaehyun was able to make himself an important part of Taeyong's daily life. 

He was ready to stay in bed and feel miserable for the rest of the night when he heard knocking. Taeyong furrowed his eyebrows in confusion since everyone was supposed to be at the great hall for dinner. 

"Come in" He sat up in bed and hoped that his eyes weren't red or puffy.

"I'm sorry for bothering you, hyung" Jeno stood awkwardly at the door. "Someone is asking for you, they're waiting outside" 

Taeyong was even more confused. Why was someone even waiting for him after his friends told everyone he was sick and why was Jeno not at the great hall like everyone else.

"Why are you here?" Taeyong frowned at Jeno who shrank under his gaze. 

"I had to finish an assignment so I got back here after grabbing something to eat" The younger rubbed his neck nervously, "Speaking of which I should get going, good night Hyung!" 

"Thank you Jeno, have a good night" Taeyong didn't really buy what he heard but decided to just let it slide. He had more important things to worry about. 

He had no idea who could skip dinner just to see him and he wasn't even in the mood to talk to anyone but he wasn't rude and wouldn't be able to sleep well knowing he left someone waiting for him. Taeyong sighed and got up. He wasn't sure if he looked presentable but whatever he was supposedly sick so he didn't have to look his best. 

He was relieved to see that the common room was empty. He didn't want to run into anyone. He stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath, he could always turn back, go to his room and act like Jeno never told him about this but he stopped himself and pushed the door open. 

"Hello?" He took a hesitant step forward. In the dimly lit hallway, Taeyong could make out a figure leaning on the wall across from him.

Taeyong almost gasped when the person lifted their head and he got a clear look of their face. 

"Jaehyun?" To say that Taeyong was surprised would be an understatement. 

"Hey.." Jaehyun offered a small smile. "Are you feeling better? Yuta said you were sick?" 

"I-" Taeyong was still struggling to understand why Jaehyun was in front of his common room, looking at him like he did for the past two weeks. It just didn't add up. "Yeah, I'm feeling a bit better" 

Jaehyun looked relieved at his answer as if he was worried about Taeyong, which would be ridiculous. He took the antidote yesterday, he shouldn't have any feelings left for Taeyong. Maybe it was his mind playing tricks and making him see things that weren't there. 

"I know you must be feeling a bit confused right now," Jaehyun fiddled with the ring on his hand nervously, "I think I should explain something." 

Taeyong stayed silent and looked at Jaehyun, waiting for him to continue. 

_ What if he's here to confront me about taking advantage of him _? Taeyong was dreading Jaehyun's explanation. 

"Two weeks ago, Ten found a box of chocolate cauldrons on Yuta's bed and he gave me one as a birthday present until the one he ordered arrives. I'm not a big fan of sweets so I didn't eat it, I still kept it because it was a present and I couldn't throw it away," Jaehyun rummaged through the pocket of his robes and took out a familiar wrapping. It was the same one Yuta gave to professor Taeyeon that day in the hospital wing, the same individual wrapping of the chocolate cauldrons. Taeyong's eyes widened, "I'm sure you kind of figured out where I'm going with this. I never ate this. I never took the potion in the first place." 

"Then-" Taeyong eyed the chocolate in disbelief, "Then why did you act that way?" 

"Once Johnny and Ten started acting weird, I took them to the hospital wing. We found Yuta and Doyoung there and Madam Yoona explained that the chocolate was most probably laced with a love potion." Jaehyun couldn't look Taeyong in the eye as he spoke, he was too nervous, "I kind of figured out what was happening and saw it as an opportunity, so I said I also ate mine."

"An opportunity?" Taeyong was scared of hearing the answer. Was it an opportunity to make fun of him? 

"I just wanted an excuse to talk to you and act on my feelings." Even with the bad lighting, Taeyong could tell Jaehyun was blushing, "I have liked you for a very long time, Taeyong. I was never able to approach you so when the whole mess with the love potion happened I gathered all my courage and finally talked to you." 

Taeyong wasn't able to reply, his brain was trying to process everything he heard. Jaehyun looked and sounded sincere but to Taeyong the words didn't make sense. 

"I understand if you feel upset," Jaehyun sighed, taking Taeyong's silence as an answer to his confession, "I just wanted to come clean, I wanted to tell you after you came to my Quidditch practice but I chickened out. I hope we can at least stay friends-" 

"wait, pause" Taeyong held his hand up, cutting Jaehyun mid-sentence, "What you're saying is that you never were under the influence of a love potion and that you like me?" Jaehyun dumbly nodded, "You're the most popular guy in our school Jaehyun, how come you weren't able to approach someone like me?" 

"Have you seen you?! Of course, I'd be intimidated to talk to someone as pretty as you!" Jaehyun's eyes widened in horror as soon as he realized what he said, "I mean, in my defense, I thought you were dating Yuta. I thought I had no chance.."

"Oh Merlin, this is a lot to take in" Taeyong bit on his thumb and looked at Jaehyun who was squirming under his stare. 

"Is that a good or a bad thing?" 

"I don't know! I was crying in my room the whole day because I thought we were never going to talk ever again and you're saying you like me I-" 

"You were crying?"

"That's literally not important now Jaehyun!"

"Why would I never talk to you?" Jaehyun looked genuinely surprised.

"Because you took the antidote and you were supposed to hate me for taking advantage of you!" 

"'What the hell. how were you taking advantage of me?" Jaehyun was growing more confused the more Taeyong spoke.

"Because you were supposed to be under the influence of a love potion! And I got happy that my feelings were returned even though I knew it wasn't what you were really feeling. Which I now know is not true since you didn't even eat the chocolate in the first place. I don't even know why I'm rambling at this point, I've had a long day and I'm not making sense anymore-" 

"Does that mean you like me too?" Taeyong shut his mouth and hesitantly nodded. His cheeks grew warmer when he realized he just confessed to none other than Jung Jaehyun.

"Wow. So we both like each other and it took Yuta being clumsy and a messy love potion incident for us to confess to each other" Jaehyun laughed incredulously.

"When you put it that way, it does sound really silly." 

"So, I like you and you like me," Jaehyun cleared his throat nervously, "Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?"

"Are you asking me out on a date?" 

"Yeah, a date." 

"I would love to!"


End file.
